Ch.179Chapter 179 – The Labyrinth (3)

“Christina?”

I called out to Christina once more.

But Christina didn’t answer, just staring blankly ahead.

“Christina?”

Still no response.

Feeling a surge of anxiety, I called out more forcefully.

“Christina!”

“Ah!”

Only after I shouted did Christina finally snap back to reality.

She looked around frantically.

“Oh, um, my benefactor?”

I felt slightly relieved seeing Christina looking at me with a somewhat dazed expression.

“You scared me, suddenly spacing out like that.”

“…Ah, did I?”

Christina bowed her head apologetically.

Then she planted her staff on the ground and said:

“I just had a lot on my mind. I’m fine now.”

“Really?”

I became curious about what she had been thinking about.

However, Christina seemed embarrassed about it, fidgeting with her staff.

‘At least she seems to be in her right mind now….’

Christina had seemed distinctly abnormal earlier, but looking at her current state, I was relieved that there didn’t appear to be any major issues.

“Whew, that helmet voice really startled me.”

“You shouted so suddenly, it scared me.”

Pine and Beatrice complained, apparently not having noticed Christina’s blank state earlier.

The two had been examining the wall in front of Christina, so it made sense they hadn’t noticed her strange condition.

I bowed my head in apology.

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine, you’re not the type to do that without reason.”

Beatrice accepted my apology.

Relieved that she wasn’t too angry, I raised my head.

‘Huh?’

The tip of Christina’s staff, which she had been waving around, caught my eye.

There seemed to be some pattern to her movements, so I looked more carefully.

Though it was dark, it felt like she was drawing something.

‘…Is that the symbol of the Evgenia Order?’

It looked like the emblem I’d seen on the recruitment forms Christina used to hand out on the streets. Christina had persistently tried to recruit me once, so the symbol was familiar, though I usually forgot about it.

But now, the tip of Christina’s staff seemed to be drawing that very symbol.

Finally, Christina’s hand stopped.

-Rumble rumble

“Oh my?”

Pine was the first to react.

Then the wall in front of us split in two and disappeared.

“Huh, what’s going on?”

“But there wasn’t any mechanism?”

Beatrice and Pine, who had been investigating ahead, made surprised noises and began looking around again.

I quickly looked at Christina.

“Christina, this…”

“W-what could this be…?”

Christina looked at me with a bewildered expression.

‘…Does she not know what she just did?’

Christina’s staff had clearly drawn something on the ground moments ago.

Yet she herself seemed unaware of it.

‘…Is it related to her spacing out earlier?’

Just as I was about to ask Christina if she had any idea what happened:

“Well, it looks safe ahead.”

“Hey, helmet guy, sister, let’s get going.”

Beatrice began urging us forward.

Christina quickly ran ahead to take the lead.

“I’ll start mapping from now.”

“I’m counting on you, Miss Pine.”

“Leave it to me.”

Before I could even gather my thoughts, the three had already moved ahead of me.

“Benefactor, hurry up!”

“Honestly…”

Hearing Christina’s cheerful call, I put aside my thoughts and hurried to join them.

+

It goes without saying, but we were currently in a labyrinth.

The reason we had been able to navigate to our destination without getting lost until now was because elves had previously explored the area and completed maps of the vicinity.

Naturally, the space Christina had just opened wasn’t included in those maps, so we were entering completely uncharted territory.

“I think we should go left here…”

Christina said this as we reached a fork in the path.

Having no reason to object, I followed her lead.

After walking for some time, we reached what seemed to be an intersection with five different paths.

“Let’s try the middle one?”

Again, Christina spoke first.

Once more, I followed her.

After that, we encountered many complex paths, and Christina continued to give directions.

After a while, Beatrice spoke with a puzzled tone:

“…Isn’t this going too smoothly?”

“Yeah, it really is.”

We were simply following Christina’s directions, yet we hadn’t felt lost at all.

“Is the entrance area this straightforward too?”

“…Compared to labyrinths I know, it could be considered easy, but…”

Pine trailed off.

“That’s only because there are no monsters. The paths themselves are complex, and there are traps.”

In other words, the labyrinth properly had complex paths and traps, as one would expect.

We had only traveled on completed paths before, so we only knew about the final teleportation trap.

‘So this shouldn’t be an easy place to navigate…’

Yet we were progressing without any obstacles.

“Ah, here… let’s go right.”

We continued advancing according to Christina’s directions.

Since entering this new space, we hadn’t encountered a single trap or dead end.

“Does she actually have a map in her head or something?”

“No way.”

I chuckled dryly at Beatrice’s exasperated comment.

No matter what, Christina couldn’t possibly have a map in her head.

‘Is it just good luck?’

I recalled how Christina had also found Sera’s grandmother’s secret workshop quite easily before.

“If we go straight ahead here, we’ll reach a fork in the road, and then we should turn right!”

Just as Christina said, we indeed came to a fork.

“…Hey, elf. Did you see that there was a fork ahead?”

“It’s dark, so I can only see as far as the sister’s light illuminates…”

Even elves with better eyesight than humans couldn’t see through this darkness, yet Christina was accurately identifying the paths.

‘Does she really have a map in her head?’

While I was inwardly amazed, Pine spoke up:

“I’ve properly mapped our route up to this point.”

“So even if the sister suddenly gets amnesia, we won’t be stuck here.”

Beatrice said with a laugh.

Finally, a new development occurred.

“Let’s go left here…”

Following Christina’s instruction, we turned left at the fork.

And there, we faced a dead end.

“It’s blocked?”

“Oh, huh?”

Christina looked flustered at my comment.

Then she smiled sheepishly and said:

“I guess my luck has run out.”

“Luck?”

“Until now, I was just following my intuition…”

Christina said with a bright smile.

“It seems my luck has reached its limit!”

‘That’s not something to smile about…’

While inwardly questioning Christina’s reaction, I looked at Beatrice.

“Should we go back and try the other way?”

“Hmm, probably? But let’s investigate first. There might be something hidden here, like at the entrance.”

“Since I’ve mapped everything properly, a brief investigation shouldn’t be a problem.”

Pine also agreed with Beatrice’s suggestion.

As the two began examining the wall, I turned to Christina.

“Christina, can you draw your church’s symbol on the ground?”

“Our symbol?”

“Yes. Try drawing it with your staff.”

I asked Christina to try what she had unknowingly done at the entrance.

Christina began carefully maneuvering her staff, drawing her religion’s symbol.

But nothing happened.

“It’s not working.”

“Why did you suddenly ask me to draw our religious symbol?”

“You don’t know why?”

“No.”

Christina nodded.

‘She really doesn’t know.’

Turning away from Christina, who seemed completely unaware of what she had done earlier, I looked at the wall.

“Hey, helmet guy, do you sense anything?”

“Why are you asking me all of a sudden? What about magic?”

“I can’t detect anything. Besides, you sometimes have incredibly sharp senses. You have good intuition too.”

Even if my senses were good, I doubted they were better than an elf’s.

I looked at Pine, but she just shook her head.

“I’ll take a look, but don’t expect much.”

“Don’t worry, helmet guy. I’m not expecting much anyway.”

I lightly smacked Beatrice’s back as she passed by with a smirk, then faced the wall.

I concentrated, and soon I could hear what I assumed were Pine and Christina’s breathing behind me.

‘…This isn’t working.’

No matter how much I focused, nothing happened.

Deciding not to waste time, I turned around and said:

“I don’t sense anything.”

“As expected, if you don’t have expectations, you can’t be disappointed.”

Beatrice said teasingly, even whistling.

“That’s harsh.”

“Sorry, sorry. At least it helped ease the tension, right?”

I knew Beatrice hadn’t meant any harm, but I still felt a bit hurt when she apologized.

To be honest, I hadn’t expected to find anything either.

“This wall is really testing my patience.”

“Talking to a wall won’t get us anywhere. Let’s go.”

I nodded at Beatrice’s words and stood up.

‘Talking to a wall…’

There was a fairy tale like that, wasn’t there?

Going to a hidden place and saying a password to make it open.

That password was…

“…Open sesame?”

Too embarrassed to shout it, I said it quietly.

And the very next moment, the wall suddenly began to split apart.

-Rumble…

With a heavy sound, the wooden wall divided into two, and everyone stared in shock at the sight.

“Wait, that actually worked?”

I was so dumbfounded that I just stared blankly at the separating wall, then quietly glanced to the side.

Equally stunned, Beatrice, Pine, and Christina stood with wide eyes, unable to speak.

Beatrice turned only her head to look at me.

“What did you do?”

“…I just said something random.”

“It really opened when you talked to it?”

Beatrice turned her head back to look at the passage, still in disbelief.

And the very next moment.

Suddenly, black hands stretched out from inside.

“What is this?!”

Beatrice immediately countered by swinging her chain.

I quickly changed my weapon to a sword and slashed at the arms.

But.

‘It won’t cut!’

“Damn it, let go!”

Looking to the side, I saw Beatrice had been caught.

I quickly turned back and shouted:

“Christina, Miss Pine! Step back…”

“Huh? Ah? Kyaaah?!”

Christina was already being grabbed by the black hands.

At the same time, I too was seized.

“Damn it!”

A strength greater than I expected began pulling me in.

While resisting the black arms, I looked at Pine.

“Miss Pine, Christina…”

“Ah, I’ve already been caught.”

Pine answered with a serene face, as if she had given up on everything.

“It’s quite comfortable once you give up~”

I stared at her in disbelief.

The arms began pulling her strongly, and Pine’s body floated up in the air.

“It’s been fun, everyoneee…”

With those words, Pine was dragged beyond the passage.

Immediately, Beatrice shouted:

“That elf seems a bit strangeee!!!”

“Kyaaaah!!!”

Beatrice and Christina, unable to resist any longer, were also dragged in.

Now I was the only one still fighting against the hands.

‘…No…!’

I was trying to resist, but it was futile.

I was gradually being pulled in.

Just as I was considering whether to summon more strength, more arms extended from inside, grabbing the arms that held me and pulling me in.

‘…Sera, Eve….’

Thinking it was fortunate I hadn’t brought those two along, I too was finally dragged beyond the passage.

+

A moment later.

I was lying face down on the ground.

‘What’s going on?’

Apart from my body aching all over, everything seemed fine.

I quickly got up and surveyed my surroundings, but…

‘Fog.’

From somewhere, a thick fog had appeared.

I quickly shifted my thoughts.

‘At least I’m alive.’

If I was alive, there was a possibility the others were too.

What I needed to do was confirm their safety and gather everyone.

Having reached this conclusion, I shouted:

“Christina! Beatrice! Miss Pine!”

My voice echoed in whatever space this was.

If it echoed this much, they should be able to hear me, but…

“Christina!”

No one.

“Beatrice!”

No answer.

‘…Am I alone here?’

Suddenly, anxiety began to overwhelm me—what if I had been dragged in and left alone in this space? What if I was trapped here forever…

‘…No, pull yourself together.’

I couldn’t falter already.

Quickly refocusing my thoughts, I chose a direction and began walking.

‘Let’s just start moving.’

Hoping to find an exit or some clue about the others’ whereabouts, I cautiously proceeded in one direction.

“…This fog is really thick.”

If I get ambushed in this, it would be troublesome.

-Swoosh!

“Speak of the devil!”

Hearing an arrow, I twisted my body to dodge.

I quickly looked toward where the arrow had come from, and as I glared in that direction, the fog gradually cleared.

What I saw was a shadow holding a bow.

It was a shadow armor, completely equipped with armor including a helmet.

‘Is that it?’

Judging by the arrow’s speed, it was no ordinary force. I changed my weapon to a halberd and pointed it while asking:

“What are you?”

The shadow didn’t answer.

Instead, it just swung its arm once.

Then its bow began to transform.

“…So you also have a transforming weapon.”

Seeing that the shadow now held a halberd in its hand, I clicked my tongue softly.